North Korea accuses Trump of declaring war

“Last weekend Trump claimed that our leadership won’t be around much longer and declared a war on our country”, said Ri, according to an official translation of his remarks to reporters in New York.

"Since the United States declared war on our country, we will have every right to make all self-defensive counter measures, including the right to shoot down the United States strategic bombers at any time even when they are not yet inside the aerospace border of our country," Ri said. He indicated that Trump’s comments amounted to a declaration of war and thus, Pyongyang had the right to take countermeasures.

“The whole world should clearly remember it was the US who first declared war on our country”, Ri told reports.

“The question of who won’t be around much longer will be answered then”, he went on to say.

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said Monday that the US has not declared war on North Korea, adding, "Frankly, the suggestion of that is absurd."

Yonhap, the South Korean news agency, suggested that the reclusive North was in fact bolstering its defences by moving aircrafts to its east coast and taking other measures, after US bombers flew close to the Korean peninsula over the weekend. Though the agency is unverified, Yonhap reported that the US appeared to have disclosed the flight route of the bombers intentionally.

Tensions have escalated on the Korean peninsula since North Korea conducted its sixth and most powerful nuclear test on 3 September, but the rhetoric has reached a new level in recent days with leaders on both sides exchanging threats and insults.